There is much confusion among the English Language learners over the correct use of Who, Whom and Whose. We are making some endeavor to clear this difference. We hope that after reading this article, much of the confusion regarding their use will disappear.
First of all you must know that all these three Who, Whom and Whose are Relative Pronouns. See the difference in their use through the table below.
| Use of Who | Use of Whom | Use of Whose |
| Nominative Case ( We use it as a subject of a sentence) | Objective Case ( Used as an object of a sentence) | Possessive Case ( to show possession/relation with a person or a thing) |
| Used for Human Beings | For Human Beings | For Human Beings/ For Animals/ Inanimate things |
| With Noun subjects like John, Sophie, God, Actor etc | With Noun Objects like John, Sophie, God, Actor etc | _ |
| As an Interrogative Pronoun ( To know the Subject) | Also as an Interrogative Pronoun ( To know the object) | Interrogative Pronoun to know the owner |
| After Prepositions, the use of Whom is better | ||
| Used like I, We, You, They, He etc | Used like Me, Us, You, Them, Him etc |
Now check some of the examples to clear the difference in the use of Who/ Whom/ Whose.
The boy who is standing outside is my brother.
This is the boy whom I had given my pen.
This is the boy whose purse has been stolen. ( Show Possession)
This is the person with whom John quarreled. ( With Preposition use Whom)
This is the cat whose name is Caterina.
Whom have you invited to the party ? ( To know the Object )
Answer – I have invited Rudra to the party.
Who is playing in the street? ( To know the Subject)
Answer – Kinjal is playing in the street.
Whose is this book ? ( To know the owner of the book )
Answer – Ram’s
Incorrect use of Who/ Whom/ Whose with Correct Sentences
The woman whom had helped you yesterday is our teacher. ( Incorrect)
The woman who had helped you yesterday is our teacher. ( Correct)
This is the girl who he loves. ( Incorrect)
This is the girl whom he loves. ( Correct)
For who did you want money ? ( Incorrect)
For whom did you want money? ( Correct)
Whom killed the dog ? ( Incorrect)
Who killed the dog ? ( Correct)
I don’t know whom book this is. ( Incorrect)
I don’t know whose book this is. ( Correct)
Whom is this house ? ( Incorrect)
Whose is this house ? ( Correct)
Read Complete English Grammar here.
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